Well I just got home from the hospital this afternoon and sat down to pump a little bit because I have been having an engorgement issue today. The baby nursed from the left breast and I started pumping the right, I got 2 ounces out of the right before swapping breasts with him. And then I pumped on the left and got another 2 ounces while he finished up at the right. After he just finished eating this evening I pumped again because once again everything is engorged and I am getting 3 ounces off of each breast. He is only 2 days old. He is eating enough for him to be satisfied. So far just from two pumping sessions I have 10 ounces of milk in the freezer. I am somewhat frightened to see what tomorrow is going to bring. I know pumping will just keep my supply up but with him being so tiny and me being so large breasted I do not want to get so engorged to the point that he cannot latch on, I would rather have an over supply than a poor latch with sore nipples for a couple of weeks. I am seriously thinking about donating some of my over supply to a milk bank.

Okay do I just realized that I did not put down the concerns I have. Okay my biggest concern is that right now we have to use a nipple shield only on the right side because his little mouth is so tiny he cannot latch on properly. I am hoping to change that soon, I realized last night that I think I have a blocked milk duct because the breast itself is so painful. I attempted a warm compress on it, which helped a little bit. He nursed pretty vigorously on the right breast this morning. I am just trying to keep that from becoming mastitis. Does any have any suggestions on how to help a baby with such a small mouth latch on to a larger breast? Also does have any experience with donating breast milk?

First of all...CONGRATULATIONS!!! I have large breasts, flatish nipples and oversupply and I have breastfed 2 babies without major issues, so don't be scared. It is totally normal to be engorged at this point...if you are still getting engorged frequently in a month that is when it is concerning for oversupply. Your body is still figuring out how much milk your baby needs and will be for the next several weeks. I'm going to address your concerns one at a time so it's not a jumbled mess of my thoughts on the subject.

1. First the concern you may have a clog/mastitis developing since that is most urgent. If you are engorged already it is very hard to tell if you have a clog or just lumps from the engorgement. Is the lump still there right after the baby eats? Monitor yourself for red streaks on your breast, fever or flu like symptoms...if you see these you should call your OB and get antibiotics since that means it's mastitis. If you have a lump that doesn't go away with draining the breast, you need to try to release the clog before it develops into mastitis. I was most successful by taking a hot shower or bath and massaging behind the clog while hand expressing. Using a hot compress before nursing and massaging will work too.

2. The engorgement. When your milk comes in your breasts are very inflamed. You can take ibuprofen to help with the inflammation I also liked to use wet prefolds that I put in the fridge as cold compresses every hour or so. It helped with the pain associated with the inflammation. It is important for you to keep yourself comfortable and your milk moving to prevent milk stasis. However, you want to avoid emptying your breasts by pumping if your goal is to eventually have a supply that matches what your baby wants to eat. If you are engorged and pumping to relieve it, try to only pump enough to soften the breast until it is comfortable and no more (for me that was about an ounce). You can do that whenever you need to without stimulating more milk production.
If you really want to stimulate an oversupply for milk donation more power to you! It is a big commitment and labor of love, but was more work than I could handle. Keep pumping!

3. Latching the baby on a big breast with a small mouth. My DD was 6#s and had a small mouth, plus I had large, engorged breasts and flat nipples. You can acheive a good latch without a shield, but a LC can help a lot with techniques. Pinch the nipple at the bottom of the areola and wait until he opens WIDE then stick the nipple in as deep as possible. If it isn't a great latch take him off and try again...even if it takes several tries every time. Practice makes perfect. You can google Dr. Jack Newman Asymetrical Latch youtube videos to help with technique

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Kim wife to Kyle and mommy to Julia 2/15/2010 and Clara 5/7/2012

I was able to resolve the issue with the clog/possible mastitis. A hot shower and a breast pump can do some amazing things. lol. Secondly the milk that I have been able to pump has now been claimed by my 1 year old. He was interested in what the baby was eating so I gave him a small taste figuring he would not like it and well he LOVED it. I have also gotten a little further on a good latch with itty bitty. I was having some nipple cracking issues because of the poor latch and he would not latch properly if I was using lanolin which just contributed to the problem, so I decided to try the coconut oil. He loved the taste of it and he is latching so much better now. I hate to have to use that for him to latch properly but if it works then heck why not. lol. I had an over supply with my other two boys as well so I figured it would happen with this one. But at least I know that the milk will not just sit in the freezer until we decide to go out or something, I know the 1 year old will drink it, he absolutely loves it.